Central Bucks East field hockey team falls to nation's top team

Saturday

EXETER — Riley Donnelly bit back tears as she slowly packed her equipment, the reality beginning to hit home that the senior captain had just played her final field hockey game for Central Bucks East.

"Just the shock of the final whistle and knowing that it's over — it's hard," Donnelly said after Saturday's 6-0 loss to District 3 champion Penn Manor in Saturday's PIAA 3A quarterfinal at Exeter High School.

“They gave it everything today,” East coach Michelle Finegan said. “I think we tried to do some things, but when you get to this level, any mistake is capitalized on because the teams are so strong.

“We did a couple of things that were maybe due to nerves. I don’t think our team played their best game today, but I think a lot of it has to do with states. It’s only the second time we’ve been to states.”

The Patriots (19-5, 11-1 SOL) joined a long line of teams that have fallen at the hands of the nation's top-ranked team. The Comets (26-0) have allowed just five goals this season, none in the postseason, and the District 3 champions needed all of 48 seconds to get on the scoreboard when Alyssa Schreiber scored on her team's first shot.

"You watch film on a team, but playing them is a whole different story," Donnelly said. "You can see they're fast, but until you really see it, it's hard to adjust and it's hard to keep up."

That 1-0 score stood until Emma DeBerdine (Briana Harsh assist) found the cage with 10:54 remaining in the half on the Comets' sixth corner. Six minutes later, sophomore Anna May Barbusca turned a DeBerdine pass into a goal, sending the Comets into halftime with a 3-0 lead.

“I said to the coaches, they’re a lot faster than I thought,” Finegan said. “They’re just a lot faster than they are on film. They’re number one in District 3 for a reason. They’re a strong team.”

The Comets tacked on three more goals in the second half before the Patriots drew their first corner and resulting first shot, but goalkeeper Brit Hook was there to turn away the shot fired on goal by Donnelly.

“They had a lot of speed, and their defense was really strong,” East freshman Phia Mannino said. “You had to know exactly where you were going to go and what you were going to do. They were just really strong.”

For East’s seven seniors, who have been such an integral part of the program’s turnaround, it was especially hard to see the season end.

"I have been playing with these guys since I was little, and it's so hard to go our separate ways, but this is the farthest we’ve gone in a while, and I’m so proud of all our success,” senior Whitney Dietz said.

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